Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Ek Doctor Ki Maut (Death of a Doctor) [1990]

Subhash Mukherjee never received the recognition
he deserved despite technically being the first person to perform in-vitro fertilization;
instead he faced severe ostracization by bureaucrats and fellow medical
professionals alike. The sad story of this man who was perennially
misunderstood and even shunned during his lifetime formed the point of
reference in this sensitively directed film by Tapan Sinha. Dipankar Roy
(Pankaj Kapoor), a doctor in a government hospital in Calcutta, might just have
discovered the vaccine for leprosy – by working for over ten years all through
the night at the make-shift laboratory in his home. However, instead of his
achievement being celebrated and he being helped in completing the pending
formalities, he faces opposition, reprimands, insults and severe apathy in
general – and the unforeseen delays as a result of this costs him dearly, both
professionally and personally. The only ones who give him company through this ordeal
are his loving wife (Shabana Azmi), his paternalistic teacher (Anil
Chatterjee), and a young journalist (Irfan Khan), even as his slightly jealous
long-time friend, who is now a renowned physician, refuses to back him. The film
boasts of strong performances by all, but the cake would go to Pankaj Kapoor –
he gave an astounding turn as the short-tempered man who becomes a pariah for
all on account of his refusal to genuflect before the powers that be. His
portrayal of the character’s anger, frustrations, and emotional turmoil, were
heartbreaking for me as a viewer. The overall treatment of the film and
development of some of the side characters could have been better, but that can
be ignored in view of the larger picture.